NA6 Soft Top Replacement

Glennb · Postby **Glennb** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 12:10 am

I am needing to replace the Soft Top and I have already bought the replacement Top which I now need to fit.
After reading a number of "how to do articles" I come back to the same question....Is it better to replace the Soft Top whilst still on the car or should I consider removing the Soft Top and frame from the car?
Any recommendations please. Thanks Glennb

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 5:55 am

I recently had mine fitted by a Pro. After watching all the videos & reading all the how to posts, I decided against doing it myself. It took a Pro all day, so how long would it have taken me? Not to mention the new swear words I would have invented.

MrRevhead · Postby **MrRevhead** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:18 am

As a rough indicator, how much did it cost you to get it fitted Gladiator?

Did you remove/install the top or did they also do that in addition to changing the fabric?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Mon Apr 01, 2013 5:14 pm

Mine was vandalized, so it was on insurance. But it was going to cost about $600 for a new soft top (the same as my excess) so I had it supplied & fitted. The quote the installer gave me for insurance was approx $1500. Their name is AAA Trimming on the Gold Coast. They did the lot.

aka_juffa · Postby **aka_juffa** » Tue Apr 02, 2013 9:58 am

I have fitted 3 soft tops in total as of yesterday. First with frame on car, second with frame off car, and third where I swapped a NA soft top and frame with one from a NB.

Assuming you have a large enough table/work bench, IMHO I would remove the frame. It will give you more room to move, greater access to various parts of the soft top/frame and therefore allow you to do a neater job.

While one person can remove/install the frame, two is better.

Take photos/notes as you remove the old top from the frame to use as reference points for when you mount the new top.

Does the new top come with a rain rail. If not, you can usually reuse the old one. The rain rail plastic is brittle, but can be quite easily patched using cloth tape. You can also fit the old rain rail without using rivets. Just patch the rivet holes with the cloth tape and it should be fine. I would allow one long day for the removal and install.

Hope that helps.

PS, if you are in Melb (or nearby) I am willing to assist with the install.

J.

Earlybird · Postby **Earlybird** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 6:08 pm

Gladiator wrote:Mine was vandalized, so it was on insurance. But it was going to cost about $600 for a new soft top (the same as my excess) so I had it supplied & fitted. The quote the installer gave me for insurance was approx $1500. Their name is .......on the Gold Coast. They did the lot.

WOW..$900 to install!

They did the lot alright, including a dodgy quote to make sure we all continue paying more for insurance premiums.

Just to clarify. I'm not having a go at you Gladiator. It just pisses me off when I see companies like this bump up prices for their own gain when we are the silly bastards who end up paying for it.

P.S. Hope the prick who vandalised your roof has kharma pay him a visit very soon.

Gladiator · Postby **Gladiator** » Wed Apr 03, 2013 6:34 pm

Agree, but in my case it cost me no more out of pocket than if i'd battled & sworn & cursed trying to do it myself. And yeah, Karma always gets em in the end. They'll probably be better of than if I got em.